First-year players and first-time head coaches may think they’re ready for college basketball. Then reality hits.

So, this offseason, The Athletic will check in with select freshmen and head coaches about their first year — the things they learned in Year 1 that will shape Year 2 and beyond. First up: Wisconsin guard Brad Davison, who battled through a shoulder injury to average 12.1 points per game and set himself up as one of the faces of the Big Ten — like it or not — for several seasons to come.

Q: Day 1, you set foot on campus at Wisconsin. What did you expect college basketball would be like?

BD: I was extremely eager my first day. Playing in the Big Ten, playing at Wisconsin was always a goal, a dream of mine. What I expected — obviously we had a little different season than we were expecting. We were dealt kind of a rough hand with some injuries and setbacks. But it was so much fun. Obviously we didn’t have the success we wanted, but...